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The Flash Recap And Review – Season 1, Episode 19: Who Is Harrison Wells?

By Nick Tylwalk

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The Flash and his friends are ever so close to learning the truth behind Harrison Wells, Reverse-Flash, and … well, everything, really.

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Not yet, though, and the metahuman villains of Central City aren’t going to just sit around and work on the big picture. We’ll see a new villain today, as well as more work toward the inevitable season-ending showdown. Let’s zoom (no pun intended) into “Who is Harrison Wells?”

Not-So-Fast Recap: A meeting is convened, complete with pizza, to discuss the investigation into Dr. Wells. Barry Allen, Joe West, Eddie Thawne and Cisco Ramon are all in, but Caitlin Snow is still skeptical. Barry says he’ll do his part to convince her while Joe and Cisco take a road trip to Starling City to follow some leads there. Barry wants to wish them good luck but is scared of what they might find.

At the bank, an employee appears to empty the vault of a whole bunch of valuables before calling it a night. Eddie ends up questioning the woman the next day, as she was caught on video, but she swears it wasn’t her.

Given the weirdness that routinely goes on in Central City, Eddie is thinking metahuman, maybe one who can control minds, as he discusses it with Barry. There’s tension between him and Iris when she stops by, and Thawne says he’s looking forward to not lying to Iris any more.

True to his word, Barry is able to get Caitlin to play along for the time being, and she lies to Wells about what they are up to and why Cisco is absent from work. Eddie thinks he has a lead on a possible accomplice to the mystery thief, and he asks for the Flash’s assistance. Barry gets a shock because after Eddie tackles the suspect, he touches a teenage girl, changes form to look just like her, and manages to slip away.

At S.T.A.R. Labs, Harrison says shape-shifting must be a theory that turned out to be true. Some research finds a string of crimes with people claiming to be framed dating back to just a month after the particle accelerator mishap, with the very first accused person saying a man named Hannibal Bates set him up.

In Starling, Captain Lance gives Joe and Cisco the files on (the real) Wells’ death. He also introduces them to Laurel Lance, who asks to speak to Cisco privately. After revealing that she’s really the Black Canary, she asks if he can help modify some technology she’s got. Could we be seeing the birth of the Canary Cry on TV?

Caitlin is about to pay Wells a visit at his very nice pad when she’s suddenly rushed away by a speedy Barry Allen. He pleads with her not to talk to Harrison, but Caitlin is troubled because she says the doctor stuck by her while Barry was in a coma, a time she calls the worst nine months of her life. If the theory about Wells is right, Caitlin says her whole life in Central City has been a lie. Barry explains that he’ll never be able to clear his dad’s name if she starts digging around for answers on her own and Harrison figures out what’s going on, so she reluctantly agrees to stick to the script until Joe and Cisco return.

Eddie and Barry try speaking to Bates’ grandmother, who is acting just a bit strange. Aw, that’s because it’s actually Bates. A chase ensues, with Caitlin telling Barry he can’t use his speed in front of Bates. That leaves the pursuit to Eddie, but when Bates scuffles with him, Hannibal ends up with his appearance and his gun, shooting the cops who show up as backup.

Naturally, Eddie is in a lot of trouble, though Barry promises Iris it’ll be okay. In Starling, Lance and Joe talk daughters, with West offering some of his sage advice. Oh, and Cisco finds evidence of tachyon particles, which seem to be messing up the Captain’s coffee.

Barry has forensic evidence that seems to exonerate Eddie, but the D.A. isn’t all that impressed. He also offers to free Thawne until his name can be cleared, but Eddie wants no part of it, saying he needs to go about this the right way. Unfortunately, that effort takes a turn for the worse when Barry is fooled by Bates at the West house, because he looks and sounds like Eddie. After knocking out our hero, Bates touches Barry and takes his form.

That comes in handy right away when Caitlin drops by with news that she may have figured out a way to neutralize the powers of Everyman — a nickname that Bates likes. He accompanies her back to S.T.A.R. Labs and surprises her with a passionate kiss.

Joe, Cisco and Lance dig at the site of the weird readings and find human remains. The Captain wants to call it in, but Joe convinces him to sit on it, citing the safety of Iris and others close to him.

Speaking of Iris, she stops by S.T.A.R. Labs to introduce Caitlin to the research she’s been doing. Notably, she figured out the fake Eddie in the video is left-handed, proving he’s not legit. I can only think of The Princess Bride here for some reason. Suddenly, Wells uses a taser to knock out “Barry,” who was readying a gun in his left hand. Caitlin is extremely relieved for reasons she doesn’t share with the others, and Iris argues that she needs to take Bates to the police. Remember, she doesn’t know about the Pipeline.

Alas, while Iris and Caitlin transport Bates by car, he changes into a little girl and convinces some construction workers to free him. Er, her. You know what I mean. Caitlin returns to the West house and frees a tied up and unconscious Barry.

Before leaving Starling, Joe gives some final encouragement to Lance to give Laurel another shot. She receives a gift from Cisco: a reworked sonic weapon with four times the range and three times the resonance, and he thinks it should be called the Canary Cry. It looks like all he asked for in exchange is a picture with Black Canary.

As you’d expect, the science crew has cooked up a way to neutralize Everyman’s powers. They send Barry to the airport to confront him, and the Flash ends up in a showdown with him after spying one of his changes. Bates tries throwing Flash off-balance by changing into Caitlin, Iris, Eddie and even Flash himself, but the actual fight is fairly one-sided, and Flash injects the villain with a serum that freezes his appearance and knocks him out.

Thawne is released, and the D.A. bemoans the fact that the law isn’t prepared for the changing realities brought on by metahumans. Barry gives her a list of other people framed by Bates. The whole ordeal looks like it led to a thaw between Eddie and Iris too, and he reveals that he’s been working with the Flash.

After he’s locked in the Pipeline, Everyman says he can no longer remember his true form. Oh well. Barry also has something to show Caitlin, who still wants to know about Wells. And it’s …

… the real Wells’ body! Barry muses that when Tina McGee said that Wells was like a whole different person after Tess’ death, it’s because he really was.

At the police station, Joe and Harrison talk about Starling City and loss. In a truly creepy moment, Wells brings up Joe losing his wife too, saying that maybe they should have a drink sometime and talk about their mutual losses. Wow. No thanks.

We’re not quite done yet. Cisco has been digging into the S.T.A.R. Labs schematics, noting that there’s never been any reason for him to explore anything but the accelerator and the Pipeline. He finds a room that shouldn’t be there, and he leads Barry and Caitlin to it by following the tachyons. Oh man, they found the Future Room! Not only is the Reverse-Flash costume in there, so is the April 25, 2024 newspaper that shows the Flash’s disappearance. As Cisco puts it, what the frack?

Favorite Moment: Not much from Cisco this week, so I’ll go with Caitlin’s flustered reaction to the fake Barry’s kiss and her subsequent remark when seeing Everyman impersonate her: “Like anyone would be dumb enough to fall for that.” Just keep telling yourself that, girl!

Final Thought: Since this show is bound to get deadly serious in its final few episodes, the tone of this one was perfect. There were real stakes, but some lighthearted moments as well. It’s hard to fathom that the final showdown with Reverse-Flash can be put off for several more weeks, but we’ll see where this goes.

Next: Previously, on The Flash: our recap of All Star Team Up

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